Nov. 8, 2017 | Game Notes (PDF)
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame hockey team will play its first Big Ten home series as the Irish welcome Penn State to the Compton Family Ice Arena.
The sixth-ranked Irish (6-3-1, 2-0-0-0 B1G) and No. 19 Nittany Lions (5-5-0, 2-2-0-0 B1G) are meeting for the second straight season at Notre Dame, and third consecutive meeting overall.
Notre Dame opened Big Ten play with a road sweep over Ohio State in its first series in the new conference, winning 4-1 in game one and 3-2 in game two. Penn State is coming off a split series against Mercyhurst at home last weekend. The Nittany Lions dropped the first game 7-4 and rebounded to take the second, 7-5.
As a team, Penn State is scoring 3.80 goals per game, which ranks seventh in the country, but the Nittany Lions are also giving up 3.90 goal against per game, which ranks 57th.
Games 11 & 12
Matchup: Penn State at Notre Dame
Date: Friday, Nov. 10 | Saturday, Nov. 11
Time: 7:35 p.m. ET Friday | 5:30 p.m. ET Saturday
Site: Notre Dame, Ind.
Arena: Compton Family Ice Arena
Television: No TV (Friday) | NBCSN (Saturday)
Live Streaming: NBC Sports App
Play-By-Play: Mike Monaco (Friday) | Gord Miller (Saturday)
Analyst: Nik Valdiserri (Friday) | Anson Carter (Saturday)
Live Radio | Audio: WZOC 94.3 FM & WatchND
Play-by-Play: Darin Pritchett
Live Stats: | Live Updates:@NDHockey
Series History: PSU leads 2-1-1
Tickets: Buy Now
Notes To Know
- Cale Morris played both games in the Notre Dame net against Ohio State and stopped 62 of the 65 shots he faced in the two games (.954) en route to being named the Big Ten’s Second Star of the Week.
- Penn State (38) and Notre Dame (36) rank first and second in the country, respectively, in goals scored this season.
- Eighteen of Notre Dame’s 36 goals have come in the second period.
- Jake Evans enters the weekend as the NCAA leader in points (18), assists (14) and faceoff wins (147), while his 1.80 points per game average ranks third.
- Evans also leads the country with 12 even strength points and he has the most games with at least three points (4).
- Evans has 10 points (1-9-10) over Notre Dame’s last four games.
- Cal Burke has a four-game points streak (3-3-6), while Andrew Peeke (0-3-3) and Dylan Malmquist (2-1-3) have two-game point streaks.
- Jordan Gross (4-8-12) is tied for the NCAA lead in points by defensemen with Jimmy Schuldt of St. Cloud State,
- Gross’ 42 shots on goal lead all defensemen and rank tied for third overall, while his 4.20 shots on goal per game average ranks second among defensemen.
- Bobby Nardella (2-8-10) is tied for fifth in scoring among defensemen, while his seven power-play points (1-6-7) are tied for first.
- Goaltender Cale Morris was named the Big Ten’s Second Star of the Week the conference announced on Tuesday morning (Nov. 7). Morris led the Fighting Irish to a weekend sweep at 16th-ranked Ohio State, posting a 2-0-0 record to go along with a 1.50 goals-against average and a .954 save percentage in the two games (stopped 62 of the 65 shots he faced). It marks the first career weekly award for Morris, who is now 5-1-0 on the year with a .925 save percentage and a 2.22 goals against average.
Series Quick Hits
- Notre Dame and Penn State will be meeting for the third consecutive season and for the first time as conference foes.
- Last season in a tightly contested series at the Compton Family Ice Arena, the teams skated to a 3-3 overtime tie in game one (Oct. 21) and then the Nittany Lions posted a 3-2 overtime win in game two (Oct. 22).
- In the game one tie, the Irish erased a 3-1 deficit on goals by Andrew Oglevie and Jordan Gross for the eventual tie.
- This weekend will mark the third all-time series between the teams as Notre Dame opened the 2015-16 at Penn State.
- The teams split that 2015-16 series, including a 7-4 win in the season opener, which was keyed by a Steven Fogarty hat trick (remains the most recent hat trick by a Notre Dame player).
- Before Penn State became an NCAA Div. I program starting with the 2012-13 season, the Irish also played the Nittany Lions four times between the 1983-84 and 1984-85 seasons, with the Irish posting a 3-0-1 record in those four games.
- Notre Dame’s current stat leaders against Penn State include Jake Evans (4 GP, 1-4-5), Jordan Gross (4 GP, 1-5-6), Andrew Oglevie (3 GP, 1-2-3), Dylan Malmquist (4 GP, 1-1-2) and Joe Wegwerth (4 GP, 2-0-2).
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